HFNHL rulebook
INTRODUCTION Welcome to the HFNHL. HFNHL is an acronym for Hockey's Future National Hockey League. The league strives to follow NHL rules and processes as much as possible, but there are restrictions that require slight rule differences due to the simulation process. Here you will find most of the guidelines you will need to operate a franchise in this league. The league uses STHS Simon T Simulator (http://sths.simont.info) to simulate game action. To add or remove yourself from the HFNHL mailing list simply send a blank message to: hfnhl-subscribe@yahoogroups.com OR hfnhl-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com All times are in Eastern Time (GMT -5:00) LEAGUE OFFICES Commissioner and League Executives The Commissioner serves as chief communicator, organizer, and decision-maker in the HFNHL. The Sim Manager simulates the games, updates the GM files, and uploads sim-generated pages to the league webpage (http://www.hfnhl.com). The Director of Player Personnel handles all trades submissions. The league's agent, "Reggie Swingstein" manages all free agent and contract extension offers. Director of Public Relations updates the leagues website and rulebook file when needed. When issues arise, the admin team will vote. If a majority cannot be reached (i.e. 4-4 vote), the league commissioner's vote will be the deciding factor. ADMINISTRATION Owners' Duties Have fun!!!! This league is for fun, so please do not take anything that happens to heart. Be friendly to all the other owners, no matter how unreasonable their trade offers might be. Replay to all Emails As an owner you are required to answer ALL HFNHL related email you receive that requires a response. There are several reasons for this. The first is common courtesy, the second is so that the HFNHL can continue to keep flowing forward and other participants are not "left hanging". Your reply does not have to be long or detailed, it just has to be a response. Be Active Owners are encouraged to publish a press report through the message board at least every two/three weeks (preferably every week). Owners must vote on league awards, any potential rule changes that might come up, and any other HFNHL poll released to the league. If an owner is leaving on travel or losing their internet access for any amount of time over 7 days, they must contact the commissioner and notify the league offices of this, or risk being removed from the league. Submit Lines Owners must submit lines in a timely fashion and make substitutions for any injuries that may occur. Lines should be submitted a minimum of once per week. Anything under this is grounds for dismissal. To submit lines, upload the lines file to your team's folder in the Files section of the league's yahoo group. You can also create text files with instructions for promotions/demotions as well as position changes. Please submit lines with a notation indicating which game day the lines are being submitted under the DESCRIPTION line. See the GM Editor section linked from hfnhl.com for detailed instructions on creating and submitting lines. Some GM's prefer to use the auto-line feature of the game. Even if you wish to use Auto-Lines please notify the sim manager. If an owner does not make necessary changes to their lineup after an injury or suspension has occurred, the league reserves the right to issue a "strike" to a team. After receiving three strikes, a $200,000 fine will be issued and the strike count will be reset. Stay out of Debt Owners need to keep their teams out of debt. If a team runs out of money, that owner will be subject to expulsion from the league. Hire an Assistant Owners are encouraged to hire Assistant General Managers to assist them in running the day to day operations of their team. Owners are free to hire and fire AGM's as they see fit and can also decide just how much power and authority an AGM can have. By default, AGM's do not have ‘signatory’ power with regards to personnel transactions of any kind. AGM's may negotiate trades with other GMs; they MAY NOT confirm trades, make waiver claims, etc, unless such power has been expressly granted to them by their team’s GM (in the form of an e-mail to the Commissioner and the Director of Player Personnel). Keep the League Healthy If any of these rules are not met, it could be grounds for dismissal. It is necessary for the health of the league to have complete participation from everyone in this league. If you feel that you can not complete these duties, make it known so the league can try to work out a suitable compromise for any given situation. PLAYERS & COACHES Players All player ratings will be based on the player's NHL performance. They will be re-rated every off-season. Players can play other positions than they are listed at in the simulator, but they will not play to their full potential when they play out of position. Players ages will be updated at the end of each season BEFORE the free agent signing period begins. Players that retire in the NHL will retire from the HFNHL during the next off-season. Players that suffer massive career ending injuries in real life will be removed from the HFNHL at the end of the year. A player's default position can be changed, but reasonable proof that the player plays the "new" position must be presented. This proof must come from a league approved website. These include: http://www.tsn.ca http://www.espn.com http://www.nhl.com http://www.nhlpa.com A players age for free agency is determined by their age on September 15th on the year of the free agency in question. For the 2012 Free Agency period this date is September 15, 2012. Coaches A coach can be fired at any time during the season but you can only make one coaching change per season. If a coach is fired before his contract is up, that team has to pay a fine of $500,000. If a team wants to hire a new coach, that team must first fire the old coach and then make an offer to a new coach. Coaches salaries are a flat rate of $500,000. In the event that two or more GM's attempting to sign the same coach then whoever saved their text file in the yahoo groups first gets the coach. If you happen to see a coach that is not on the list and wish to hire him, contact the league Sim Manager and that particular coach will be created for you. Players in Europe and Retirees Players in Europe as of October 1st will be pulled off their respective roster and placed on the prospect list (at a $50,000 annual price). However, any player who returns to the NHL by December 1st, will be allowed back in the HFNHL on the same date as their return to the NHL (i.e. Kovalchuk in 2005-06). It is up to the GM owning this player to send a notice of reinstatement with a link to verify the player has in fact returned to a professional hockey team in North America. October 1st will also be used as the cutoff date for the removal of players that have announced their retirement during the previous season or off-season. ENTRY DRAFT The seven-round entry draft will occur each off-season. All players that are eligible for the next NHL entry draft will be eligible for the HFNHL Entry Draft. Draft order will be determined by final HFNHL regular season standings. Teams not making the playoffs will enter a lottery to determine the 1st round order. The lottery only affects the order of the first round. The team selected in the lottery may not move up more than four positions in the draft order. Thus the only clubs with the opportunity to receive the 1st overall selection are the five clubs with the lowest regular-season point totals (or clubs that acquired those clubs’ first-round drafting positions). No club can move down more than one position as a result of the lottery. Under the weighted lottery system, the club with the fewest regular-season points will have the greatest chance of winning the lottery and will pick no lower than second at the Entry Draft. After the club selected moves up, the balance of the first 14 draft selections are adjusted by one, with the appropriate clubs moving down one slot to accommodate the winner, if necessary. Beginning in 2007, the final four teams that make it to the Conference Finals will get the final four picks in the draft order, regardless of where they finished in the regular season. The Cup champion will pick 30th, the other finalist 29th and the two losers from Conference Championships will pick 28th and 27th. Whichever of those two teams finished lower in the regular season standings will get the 27th pick. A list of eligible players for the draft will be listed but without their ratings, you will have to do REAL scouting for the draftees just like a real NHL franchise. The first three rounds are annually held in a "live draft" format via the HFNHL Chat Room unless otherwise noted. If an owner is unable to attend, an ordered list of players must be submitted to the league commissioner. Once the official results are posted by the league, each team must submit a list of desired eligible prospects and the league offices will process the remaining four rounds. PROSPECTS Prospects are players whose rights are owned by a team, but are not signed to a contract. A team can sign a prospect at any time. Contracts will be in accordance with whether the player is eligible for an ELC (Entry Level Contract) and will sign a contract in accordance with their age (see Free Agency for more.) Players who are over 25 are not eligible for an ELC. Prospects who have not had any NHL experience and signed to a contract will be rated at the league minumum. Players that are drafted in the Entry Draft will be put on the prospects list unless signed to a contract. INJURIES All players are subject to injury, including goaltenders. The injury report will show the type of injury and the expected amount of time the player will miss. Players that are injured will have to be replaced in the active lineup. This will have to occur before the next game played. Note that a player can be fatigued or plagued by minor injuries and not be listed in the injury report. They are still healthy enough to play, but their performance may be affected. Instead of being listed as "OK", fatigued players will have a condition rating in the high 90's on the roster page. PLAYER RATINGS It is required by the league that all teams in the HFNHL field a roster with an overall average rating of 70+ OV. The players to be included in the average are the team's top 20 rated starting players. Strict penalties will apply if a team does not meet that requirement unless a special exception is granted. At the end of each season most players will be re-rated on how they performed in the NHL. It is the league's goal to have the most accurate set of player ratings based on a player's skills and statistics. The ratings system is comprised of 13 ratings ranging from 25-99. The scoring rating is based on how many goals the player scored. A 45 goal scorer would likely have a 90 and a 35 goal scorer would have about an 80, and so on. The passing rating is based on how many assists a player has achieved. All other ratings are based on a player's skills as observed. Overall }----------------------------------------------------------------| Leadership }----------------------------------------------------------| | Experience }-------------------------------------------------------| | | Scoring }-------------------------------------------------------| | | | Defense }----------------------------------------------------| | | | | Puck Control }--------------------------------------------| | | | | | Passing }----------------------------------------------| | | | | | | Skating }-------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | Discipline }-------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | Durability }----------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | Endurance }--------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | Strength }------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | Speed }------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | Intensity }-----------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Injury }-----------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Condition }-----------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Stick Hand }-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Position}-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Player PO HD CD IJ IT SP ST EN DU DI SK PA PC DF SC EX LD OV 16 Brett Hull RW R OK 69 68 61 74 67 87 69 86 77 54 77 88 73 77 39 Doug WeightC L OK 74 72 56 80 87 72 76 83 80 64 70 74 78 77 | | | | | |-{ Name |----{ Jersey Number SKATERS: 99 = HIGHEST, 25 = LOWEST PO - Position - Indicates the position the player plays. HD - Stick Hand - Indicates the player's stick hand. CD - Condition - How healthy the player is. "OK" indicates 100%. IJ - Injury - How long the player is injured for. IT - Intensity - Hitting, forechecking and fighting. SP - Speed - This indicates the player's skating speed. ST - Strength - Indicates the player's strength and power. EN - Endurance - Ability to play long, more productive shifts. DU - Durability - The player's tendency to get injured. DI - Discipline - The player's tendency to get penalized. SK - Skating - Player's ability to stop, turn, accelerate and skate. PA - Passing - The player's ability to pass the puck. PC - Puck Control - The player's ability to control the puck. DF - Defense - Ability to backcheck and play defense. SC - Scoring - Player's shooting and goal scoring ability. EX - Experience - The amount of experience the player has. LD - Leadership - The player's leadership skills. OV - Overall - The player's overall effectiveness. GOALTENDERS IT - Player's likeliness to play the puck and cut down the angles. SP - Player's overall speed. Glove quickness and reaction ability. ST - Size in goal. A bigger goalie can take up more of the net. EN - Same as above. DU - Save as above. DI - Save as above. SK - Ability to move around in his crease, side to side movement. PA - Ability to play the puck out to the forwards. PC - How well the player controls rebounds and gathers the puck. WAIVERS & ROSTER SIZE Waivers Like the NHL, we no longer have a waiver draft. All players 25 and younger will be exempt from waivers. All those 26 and older must clear waivers. Waiver priority is determined by winning percentage at the conclusion of the 48 hour claim period. The team with the lowest current winning percentage receives #1 priority in making waiver claims, and so on. In the event that two teams have identical winning percentages at the end of the 48 hour period, the tiebreaker will be average goal differential (Avg Goals For - Avg Goals Against) as determined on the "Team Stats" page. The team with the lowest average goal differential wins the tie-breaker. Note: The Waiver Process is managed manually. The waiver priority list shown on the HFNHLWaivers.html File is incorrect. Roster Size The maximum roster size for teams (signed players and prospects) is 80 players. The HFNHL active roster size is limited to 20 players including goaltenders. The maximum number of players on the roster, healthy or injured, is 25. Teams have until a specified cut deadline (announced before preseason) to assign players in training camp to the minors. At any point after the cut deadline (including both the exhibition and regular season), any player sent from the Pro roster to the minors must clear waivers if eligible. Dummy Players Dummy Players will be added to any GM squad when they do not have sufficient roster players to cover injuries or suspensions. Dummy Players will be given fake names, $5 million dollar contracts and will remain on the roster until the injuries or suspensions are complete, or the GM either signs a player (UFA or Prospect) or trades for one to replace the Dummy Player. Dummy Players will be rated at the league minimum. Once a GM has a fill roster it is their responsibility to inform the Sim Manager to remove the dummy player. Minimum OV Requirement Each team must maintain a minimum OV of 70 (subject to future change). The minimum OV will be determined by the average OV of the top 20 players on a teams Pro roster: Top 3 OV Centermen Top 3 OV Right Wingers Top 3 OV Left Wingers Top 6 OV Defencemen Top 3 remaining OV players If a team does not have 20 players on their pro-roster a 55OV substitute value for each missing player will be used for the calculation. The minimum OV calculations will be done at three checkpoints similar to the salary cap calculation. Draft pick penalties will be applied to teams in violation of this rule. Exact penalties to be determined by the Admin Team. Prospects There will continue to be no limit of how long you can hold a prospect. Buy-Outs Teams are given a yearly opportunity to buy-out any signed players in the off-season at the cost of 100% of the player’s annual salary (which is not counted toward their cap). TRADES An owner can trade players, draft picks, money, and future considerations. The maximum amount of cash that can change teams in any given trade is $1M. All teams must confirm all trades. A trade will not processed until this happens. The trading deadline is 80% through the season and trading will resume after the playoffs are over. If a trade looks lopsided to the point that it may be a factor in crippling a franchise, the DOPP reserves the right to veto the trade. Another reason a trade may not go through is if it is not submitted in the right format. If the right format is not used, the confirmation email may be simply deleted. Below is an example of the desired format: To: Director of Player Personnel CC: Team you made the trade with Subject: HFNHL Trade: SJ & DET Director of Player Personnel, I have agreed to the following deal: To SJ: C Sergei Fedorov, LW Vyacheslav Kozlov, 1999 DET 2nd, $500,000 To DET: C Alexei Yashin, D Bill Houlder, 2000 SJ 1st, $200,000 SUSPENSIONS Suspensions will occur randomly throughout the season. The simulator randomly determines these. Lineups must be adjusted accordingly. SALARY CAP The Salary Cap for the 2007-08, will be a $44 million hard cap, an increase of $4M from 2006-07, with draft pick penalties for those exceeding the hard cap as follows: $0-1 million: a 4th round draft pick $1-2 million: a 3rd round draft pick $2-3 million: a 2nd round draft pick $3-4 million: a 1st round draft pick $4-5 million: a 1st & 3rd round draft pick $5-7.5 million: a 1st & 2nd round draft pick $7.5-10 million: two 1st round draft picks '*All picks will be first available If a team exceeds the cap by more than $10 million, it is grounds for the franchise being revoked. As the Sim does not accurately capture average game expenses during the season (only shows current game expenses are shown) the following method will be used to calculate cap adherence: # There will be three check points: the start of season, game 30-35, and the trade deadline. There are no penalties attached to any single check point. A team will be prohibited from adding a player via waivers after the final checkpoint if it put them in violation of the salary cap. Any claims would be denied. However, if a claim slips through the cracks and results in a team being over the cap, the team will be subject to the penalties above without debate. Although the league should be denying the waiver claim, the responsibility of not initiating a waiver claim that will put a team over the cap after the third checkpoint lies with the GM of that team. # Team payroll will be recorded at each check point on a spreadsheet and the weighted average of the three will be used to determine annual excess of hard cap (plus applicable penalties) at season end. # To avoid timing issues related to injuries impacting pro payroll and possibly close the gap with regards to teams hiding players on their farm team, we will calculate payroll at these points as such: :: Top 21 OV rated players at 100% of salary (excluding 'dummy' types) regardless of whether they are on the farm or pro team. The top 21 OV are determined based on rating, with a minimum of 3 centers, 3 LW, 3 RW, 5 defensemen and 2 goalies counting. For example, if you have three centers, you'll have an extra player in another category. If there is a tie of multiple players with an equal OV for the 21st position, the highest salaried player will be used. If a team does not have 21 players on the pro and farm rosters, a $4.5M penalty for each missing position will be applied to the salary cap calculation. FREE AGENTS AND CONTRACTS The maximum offer any player may get is $8,000,000 per season. The HFNHL minimum player salary will be raised from the first day of free agency in 2012. The new league minimum will be $525,000. All new player contracts will adhere to this rule. Players with remaining years at the league minimum will have their present contracts grandfathered in and will only be applicable to the new league minimum upon contract renewal. Types Type I: ' Prospects/rookies under 25 years old, subject to rookie salary cap until they've accumulated the necessary amount of pro experience. Rookie contract length: 3 years if they signed their first contract at age 18-21 2 years if they signed their first contract at age 22-23 1 year if they signed their first contract at age 24 or above Rookie Salary Cap: Drafted 2003-2006: $850,000 Drafted 2007-2008: $875,000 Drafted 2009-2010: $900,000 Drafted 2011:$925,000 Type II: any player not qualifying for another category of free agency, who receives a timely qualifying offer from the team holding their rights. Players earning $450,000-$1,000,000 will be entitled to QO at 110% of prior year's salary; Players earning >$1,000,000 will be entitled to QO at 100% of their prior year's salary. Another team may sign the player to an offer sheet, at which point the rights-holding team may opt to match and keep the player, or take compensation instead. Compensation may be negotiated, or defaults to the following: *Up to $660,000 .............. No compensation *$660,000 to $1 million ...... One 3rd round draft pick *$1 to $2 million ............ One second round pick *$2 to $3 million ............ One 1st and one 3rd round pick *$3 to $4 million ............ One 1st, one 2nd and one 3rd round pick * $4 to $5 million ............ Two 1sts, one 2nd and one 3rd round pick * Over $5 million ............. Four 1st round picks ''NOTE: If a player signs an offer sheet and the offer is matched by the rights-holding team, that player may not be traded for a period of one season. '''Type III: Unrestricted Free Agents Players 29 or older become unrestricted free agents at the expiration of their contracts. The age applies to a player after the particular season has completed. For example, although the UFA age is 29, this applies to all players listed as 28 on the Player Vitals page. Type IV: So called "defected" free agents Any player whose rights or future rights are held by an HFNHL team, who is under an HFNHL contract but has not completely fulfilled it before signing a contract with another professional team. The player is considered a defected free agent, and may be signed subject to RFA compensation. Type V: Any player who has completed 10 or more pro seasons (HFNHL or minors) who earned less than the league average last year and received a timely qualifying offer. The player has a one-time-only option to declare unrestricted free agency. Type VI: Any player 25 years of age or older with less than 80 HFNHL games played (28 for goaltenders) becomes an unrestricted free agent a the end of their current contract. Types IV, V, and VI are not currently recognized by the league and are under review by the Admin Team. Draft Pick Compensation If a team has more than one applicable draft pick for compensation, then they will offer either their own or the one that is highest in the draft order. In the case of restricted free agents, the original team has the option to match the highest offer and thereby retain the player. Otherwise, they can release the player in return for the appropriate compensation. RE-SIGNING FREE AGENTS Teams can re-sign a potential free agent anytime during the season. All negotiating should be with the league's player agency, "Swingstein & Sons". Trade Restriction on Re-Signed UFA's All pending Unrestricted Free Agents that agree to new contracts BEFORE they reach free agent status cannot be traded until after the All-Star break of the following season. If a trade of a player falling into that category does occur before the All-Star break, the team trading the player must forfeit the amount equal to one year's salary for that player from their finances. Mid-Seaon Signing of UFA's When an acceptable offer is made to an unsigned UFA (i.e. a player not under contract with any team - not a pending UFA at the conclusion of the season) during the season, a 48-hour period commences during which the player will entertain offers from other teams. At the conclusion of the 48-hour period, the player will accept the best offer available. DRAFT ELIGIBLE vs. UFA Please note that any unsigned, undrafted players under the age of 20 (as of September 15th, 200X) are NOT eligible for free agency in the HFNHL. Rather, undrafted 18 year-olds will be eligible for the following HFNHL draft. Meanwhile, since the HFNHL draft takes place prior to the start of the freeagency period, 19 year-olds will be eligible for the following draft, and subsequently eligible for free agency should they remain undrafted. As of 2006-07, a European-born player can be signed as a free agent if he is over 22 years of age, is not in the NCAA, and has either had previous NHL experience (left and is coming back) or has played his first North American (not including exhibition games, training camp, etc.) game. In other words, if the player has signed a contract to come to North America for the first time this summer he cannot be signed in the HFNHL until he has played his first regular season game. Once the first offer is submitted, there is a 48 hour window for other teams to make a bid. Once the 48 hours expires, the player signs with the team who had submitted the best offer. Previously Drafted Euros All European-born players drafted in the NHL after 1999 must be drafted in the HFNHL. As reviewing old draft lists to see if a player has been drafted and subsequently released in the HFNHL is time consuming, the GM of the team trying to sign the player is responsible for proving that the player had been previously drafted in the HFNHL. The league's draft history can be found at this location: http://www.hfnhl.com/history/draft/ Resigning Guidelines Simply reference the particular players salary from www.nhlnumbers.com/ and match the term and salary to what they will be making starting in the 08/09 season and for the length of their remaining NHL deal, and the player will automatically re-sign. Two examples to better illustrate the auto-signing process: Let’s say Marek Zidlicky was a pending UFA at the end of this season. The team looking to re-sign him would visit the site, see that he has two years remaining at $3.5 million and could simply match this length with a 2 year x $3.5 million extension and Zidlicky with automatically resign at these terms. Another example. If Tomas Vokoun were a pending UFA in the HFNHL. His real NHL salary starting next year has him signed for three more years with an average cap hit of $5.7 million (the actual salary year by year is not relevant – the average is, which is the cap hit for the entire length of the deal he signed). The team would tender a 3 year x $5.7 million deal, and Vokoun would automatically re-sign. When Will the Player Want More? If the player in the NHL signed his current deal with an extreme degree of loyalty (i.e. Martin Brodeur) and the team looking to sign Brodeur does not command the same degree of loyalty (i.e. a rental), then the player will demand more. If accepting what their NHL salary is would amount to taking either a pay cut or taking less than what qualifying offers will give them in the coming years, then they will reserve the right to reject the offer (and only in the rarest of occasions would they accept) When Will the Player Take Less? If the player in the NHL signed their deal as a UFA or pending UFA, but the same player is only going to be a RFA in the HFNHL, they will accept less. If the player signed an extremely long deal (i.e. 6 to 7 years), given we can only offer a maximum of 4 years, the player may discount their HFNHL deal given they are not getting the same length of deal. This will depend on the age of the player however, as the extra years can sometimes be to the players disadvantage (lost UFA years) versus advantage (much older, and likely past the prime they are in at the beginning of the deal). So while the fundamental rule means that Scott Gomez would actually ask for more money than Jarome Iginla to resign based on their respective NHL salaries (average cap hits), the fact Gomez signed a much longer term deal means he will take a little less, and unless the team commands the same loyalty the NHL Flames do to Iginla, Jarome will be looking for more if the home town discount is not in play. As all of you will see, this will quite likely pose some immediate advantages and simplify offers for SOME of your players. For others, it gets a little tougher given their NHL deal But what it does, is tie together NHL salaries to HFNHL salaries in a simple and easy to calculate way, while eliminating the time required to negotiate every deal (which reached an all-time high last year). It also gives a general basis to begin negotiations for many players, which will also simplify things. Obviously if you want to re-sign a player for 4 years and they are only signed for 2 in the NHL, the same formula won’t apply, but it will give a basis to the negotiations, as the team will know the auto-sign option is always there for them. Player Contract Submission Format Here is the Player Contract Submission Format: This applies to new contracts for a free agent, an extension for a player under contract or for a prospect. Any offers not meeting this format will be sent back as ‘invalid’. Player Name Player Status (UFA, Pending RFA, Pending UFA) Age: XX (as noted in player vitals page) Link to player vitals (regardless of new player or existing - forecaster is best) Link to player vitals (www.nhlnumbers.com) Current HFNHL contract (if applicable) Current NHL contract (if applicable) Offer: years x salary (i.e. 3 years x $500,000) Notes: additional notes to his agent for consideration on the deal. Example: Joe Smith Pending RFA Age: 25 http://www.forecaster.ca/thestar/hockey/playerindex.cgi http://www.nhlnumbers.com/overview.php?team=CGY HFNHL Salary: $750,000 NHL Salary: 900,000 Offer: 2 years x $900,000 Notes: He is having an average year this year and this offer gives him substantially more than a qualifying offer while still not locking him into a long-term deal, so he can get a bigger raise with improved play in two years. SALARIES & SIGNING BONUSES Salaries are shown on the player vitals page, as well as the length of their contracts. A player on the pro team will receive his full contract amount. A player on the farm team will receive 10% of his salary. When a player is called up to the pro league, you must pay him his full salary. Bonuses The will no longer be signing bonuses in the HFNHL. REVENUE Teams earn revenue in the following ways: # Teams will earn revenue by selling tickets to their games. The amount a team earns depends on the arena size, attendance, and ticket prices. Ticket prices can be changed up to three times during the regular season. Attendance will be based on whether a team is playing well and if the team has any star players, (80 plus in ratings), for the fans to watch play. # Endorsements. Teams will be given the opportunity to make endorsement deals at the start of each season. Money will need to be invested up front with the opportunity to earn additional revenue based on whether or not certain achievements have been met. Teams may withdraw from an endorsement before the All-Star break. A team which withdraws from an endorsement will recieve a refund of half of the initial investment made, but will not be eligible to sign up for the same endorsement the following season. # Television revenue. Teams will be given $10% of the salary cap number as part of a TV revenue system implemented following the 2006-07 season. # Teams can also earn extra revenue for the following things: ## $500,000 for winning the Presidents Trophy ## $250,000 for the other regular season conference winner ## $100,000 for each player in the All-Star Game ## $200,000 for any additional qualifying league awards BANKRUPTCY GMs that have cash balances (real or projected per the Finance page) below $3M are required to assess the cash effect of every trade submitted. This is as simple as submitting the salaries of the players traded, the salaries of the players acquired, and calculating the difference. The DoPP's office will then have full authority to use this information in determining whether or not to approve a trade. For anything that truly raises a red flag in the DoPP's office, those trades may be forwarded to the commissioner at the DoPP's discretion. This should stop a lot of teams from ever coming REALLY close to insolvency. However, should a team become insolvent, we are now adopting our own version of Chapter 11 reorganization... For any team entering insolvency during the season, barring exceptional circumstances (read: if the Commissioner's Office really, really feels the need to swing the axe), penalties will be forestalled until the end of the season. GMs in insolvency will have to report to a "parole board" to discuss plans to get out of insolvency by the end of the playoffs. Refunds of endorsement fees can be discussed as part of these plans, as can payouts of endorsements already achieved. In addition, so long as immediate steps are taken to improve a team's cash situation, the parole board may hear a GM's argument to keep endorsements in place that can be "projectably achieved". The point is that the league is willing to work with the GM, but the onus is on the GM to develop and execute a plan of action. LINES All lines should be done using the GM Editor. You can make roster moves and make your lines with this utility. The lines file gets uploaded to the “Files” section of the HFNHL’s Yahoo! message group. Here are the minimum requirement's: Centers - 3 Left Wings - 3 Right Wings - 3 Defensemen - 6 Goalies – 2 Additional skaters of any position - 3 Detailed instructions on creating and submitting lines can be found by following the GM Editor link on hfnhl.com. INSTANT MESSAGING There are several instant messaging programs available that may make trade negotiations and communications with other owners easier. They include ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger. They can be downloaded and installed at these sites: ICQ: http://www.icq.com AIM: http://www.aim.com MSN: http://messenger.msn.com Yahoo!: http://messenger.yahoo.com SITUATIONS NOT COVERED Should a pressing league issue arise, the HFNHL Admin team will discuss the problem at hand and agree on a reasonable resolution. The league reserves the right to amend or change any league rules after a consensus ruling among the admin team members. EDIT LOG 09/25/2006 Added missing information in Salary Cap section related to top 21 OV rated players being counted against the cap. Added information about signing European players playing in their first North American games as free agents. Added info related to the prohibition of trading of players who have been re-signed to new contracts before reaching pending UFA status. Removed some out-dated info related to 2005-06 season. 10/02/2006 Added section 3.1 regarding players returning to European leagues and retirees. 01/14/2007 Added endorsements information under Revenue section. Added penalty info for trading a player before the All-Star break who was re-signed as a UFA prior to the previous offseason's free agency period. 01/16/2007 Removed obsolete bonus information from Revenue section. 02/20/2007 Added Player Contract Submission Format section (12.1) 06/07/2007 Added additional information regarding the new method of determining the order for the entry draft. Removed obsolete expansion draft information. Updated salary cap information to reflect the 2007 off-season and 2007-08 season numbers. Added television revenue information to the revenue section. 01/10/2008 Updated League Executives Updated Coaches Note and Rules to reflect the return of coaches Updated the Waivers & Rosters File to reflect the updated Waiver Rules, Roster Size and Buy-Outs rules. Updated the SUBMIT LINES info to reflect a request for Game Day descriptions Added the 2007/2008 Resigning Guidelines (12.1) Fixed the Free Agent Submission Format (12.2) Added Dummy Player info 03/05/2008 Removed obsolete coach contract information. Added information on Draft Lottery process. Added additional information on Dummy Players (rating) and minimum OV calcuations Added note about type IV, V, and IV Free Agents (currently not recognized) Changed ticket price change restrictions to three times per regular season Added addtional Endorsement information (regarding cancellations) 03/18/2008 Update Admin Team/League Executives Section (2.1) with new members Updated Salary Cap section (11-i) to include clause about waiver claims after the third salary cap checkpoint.